Corner construction for loader buckets or the like

ABSTRACT

A loader bucket corner member for connecting the cutting edge of the bucket to the side walls thereof. The corner member is a vertically disposed hardened member located within the outer confines of the cutting edge and protected from wear thereby. The corner member has a thickness substantially greater than that of the bucket side walls and substantially the same as that of the cutting edge to provide a uniform section modulus transition between the corner member and the cutting edge and consequent stress distribution. The corner member can comprise a forging or casting having a flared lower portion which provides a smooth inner surface at the junction between the cutting edge and the side walls or it can comprise a hardened flat plate member. Chamfers are provided along the surfaces of connection between the side walls, cutting edge and corner member to facilitate weld-joining of these parts.

United States Patent [191 Shankwitz et al.

541 CORNER CONSTRUCTION FOR LOADER BUCKETS OR THE LIKE [75] Inventors: Robert F. Shankwitz, Oswego; Jerome A. Thies, Kaneville, both of Ill.

[73] Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, 111. v

[22] Filed: Jan. 13,1971

[2]] App]. No.: 106,118

[52] US. Cl. ..37/l41 R [51] Int. Cl. ..E02f 9/28, AOlb 35/20 [58 Field of Search ..37/l4l R, 141 T, 37/142 A, 142R [561x 1 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,014,293 12/1961 Boatman et al ..37/141 R 3,523,380 8/1970 Bolyard et al.... .....37/141 R 3,197,895 8/1965 Cooke 37/141 R X 3,497,973 3/1970 Campbell. .....37/141 R 3,478,449 11/1969 Baker ..37/l41 R r 3,281,972 11/1966 Kerestes ..37/141 R 3,088,232 5/1963 Gilbertson ..37/141 R 2,004,637 16/1935 Schauer ..37/14l R X 1 June 5, 1973 2,701,591 2/1955 Kissner et a1. ..37/l4l R 1,872,866 8/1932 Young 3,243,906 4/1966 Washbond ..37/l4l R Primary Examiner-Edgar S. Burr Attorney Fryer, Tjensvold, Feix, Phillips & Lempio [57] ABSTRACT A loader bucket corner member for connecting the cutting edge Of the bucket to the side walls thereof. The corner member is a vertically disposed hardened member located within the outer confines of the cutting edge and protected from wear thereby. The corner member has a thickness substantially greater than that of the bucket side walls and substantially the 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUN 5 I975 INVENTORS SHANKWITZ THIES ROBERT JEROME CORNER CONSTRUCTION FOR LOADER BUCKETS OR THE LIKE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I assembly which exhibits extraordinary strength and has wear characteristics particularly suitable for utilization in the new extra-large bucket construction used on modern earth moving equipment.

Loader buckets usually comprise a straight bottom section contiguous with a horizontally disposed earthengaging cutting edge made of hardened steel and disposed between two side walls.

In the past, these buckets were built with the side walls welded directly to the bottom section and cutting edge. Since bucket side walls are generally much thinner than the heavy-steel cutting edge, this type of construction produced an abrupt change in cross-sectional area between the members at the corner connection between the side walls and the cutting edge. This abrupt change and its consequent variation in section modulus at the bucket corners, as well as other factors such as corner hardness reduction due to welding heat, tended to produce stress cracks and eventual bucket failure, especially under heavy loading.

Another, more advanced, type of construction employed a separate reinforcing corner member which was connected by means of welding or the like between the side walls of the bucket and the cutting edge.

One such construction is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,014,293 to Boatman et al. owned by the Assignee of the present invention. The Boatman et al. design has proven to be quite successful and long lived, especially when utilized in smallto medium-sized buckets. However, when the Boatman et al. construction was employed on extra-large buckets, frequent failures occurred due to overstressing in the corners caused by midpoint deflections in. the lengthened cutting edges and weakness attributed to excessive wear on the corner members. Such wear caused a reduction in crosssectional area in critical portions of corner members.

The present invention is principally directed to a new and improved bucket corner construction which solves the aforementioned corner wear and failure problems.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a loader bucket construction which provides substantial wear protection for the corner member and side walls thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bucket construction which has a substantially constant section modulus transition across the corners thereof with consequent stress distribution.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a bucket corner construction which utilizes a forged, or cast flared member welded between the side walls and cutting edge of the bucket.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a corner member for a loader bucket which comprises a thick, hardened steel plate substantially the same thickness as the cutting edge of the bucket. 1

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of illustration the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the principles thereof. It is recognized that other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the loader bucket equipped with the corner construction of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II--II of FIG. 1 and showing an alternate embodiment of the corner construction;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, taken along the line II-Il of FIG. 1 and showing the principal embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional, top elevational view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 1.

I DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1 a loader bucket is shown generally at 10 having a bottom section 12 connected between two steel plate side walls 14. A straight hardened cutting edge 16 is mounted on the forward edge of the bottom section 12. A corner member 18 connects each side wall with the cutting edge and is displaced rearwardly from the leading edge of the cutting edge by a distance w, as shown in FIG. 4 and laterally inwardly from the side surface of the cutting edge by a distance b. Hardened steel plates 20 are welded to the top portions of the corner members 18 and to the forward edges of the side walls 14.

With particular reference to FIG. 3, the corner member 18 comprises a forged or cast member which has a substantially flat outboard portion 21 aligned with the side wall 14 and an inner flared portion 22 which has a gradually increasing cross-sectional area from the point of connection between the corner member and the side wall 14 to the point of connection between the corner member and the cutting edge 16. This flared portion provides a smooth rounded corner for the interior of the bucket and also provides a gradual section modulus transition between the cutting edge 16 and the corner member 18. The cross-sectional area of the cor ner member may be observed to be greatest at the central point of highest stress concentration.

To facilitate welding .of the corner member to the bucket, chamfers are provided at 28. These chamfers accept greater quantities of weld material for added strength.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an alternate embodiment of the comer member is presented. Instead of the forged flared section of FIGS. 3 and 4, a flat, hardened steel plate member 18' is provided. As shown, this plate member has substantially the same thickness as the combined sections of the side wall 14 and wear plate 20. Additionally, the member 18' has substantially the same cross-sectional width as the cutting edge 16. Thus, there is again no significant transition in section modulus from the corner member to the cutting edge and a stronger corner structure is produced. The member 18 is recessed from both the leading edge and the side surface of the cutting edge 16 in the same manner as the flared corner member 18 of FIGS. 1, 3 and 4.

It can be seen that in both the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3 the corner member is protected from excessive wear from rocks and other debris by the extended portions of hardened cutting edge 16. Such extension of the cutting edge causes the soil and rock material through which the bucket is passing to break up before reaching the corner member to thus reduce the abrasive wear thereupon. Furthermore, the side wall 14 is protected frontally by the corner members and on the outboard surface by the wear plate 20. Thus, the corner member and side wall will be protected and their strength characteristics will be preserved throughout the useful life of the bucket.

Welding on both sides of the corner member in the chamfered areas provides an extremely secure connection between said member and the side walls and cutting edge. However, it should be noted that other conventional fastening methods such as riveting or bolting could also be utilized effectively in the present inventron.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been'illustrated and described, it is to be understood that these embodiments are capable of variation and modification and are not limited to the precise details set forth, but rather include such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An earthworking loader bucket or the like having sidewall means, a bottom means, a flat cutting edge means mounted upon said bottom means and a corner member assembly, said cutting edge means being flat throughout the entire length thereof, said corner member assembly comprising; a hardened verticallypositioned corner member means rigidly connected to and aligned with said sidewall means and rigidly connected to said flat cutting edge means, said flat cutting edge means extending forwardly beyond the frontal confines of said sidewall means and corner member means and extending laterally outwardly beyond the lateral confines of said sidewall means and said corner member means and hardened wear plate means connected to said sidewall means laterally outwardly thereof for protecting said sidewall means from abrasive wear during operation, said wear plate means also being connected to said vertically positioned corner member means, the combined thickness of said sidewall means being substantially equal to that of said corner member means at their point of connection therewith.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said flat cutting edge means is welded to said corner member means along two opposite edge portions of said corner member means.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said corner member means comprises a forged member having a flared cross-sectional area which gradually increases in width from its point of connection with said side wall means to its point of connection with said flat cutting edge means.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said wear plate means and said side wall means are chamfered at the locations of connection to said corner member means and said corner member means is chamfered at its locations of connection to said flat cutting edge means to facilitate welding at these connection locations.

5. The invention of claim 1 wherein said corner member means comprises a cast member having a flared cross-sectional area which gradually increases in width from its point of connection with-said side wall means to its point of connection with said flat cuttingedge means. 

1. An earthworking loader bucket or the like having sidewall means, a bottom means, a flat cutting edge means mounted upon said bottom means and a corner member assembly, said cutting edge means being flat throughout the entire length thereof, said corner member assembly comprising; a hardened verticallypositioned corner member means rigidly connected to and aligned with said sidewall means and rigidly connected to said flat cutting edge means, said flat cutting edge means extending forwardly beyond the frontal confines of said sidewall means and corner member means and extending laterally outwardly beyond the lateral confines of said sidewall means and said corner member means and hardened wear plate means connected to said sidewall means laterally outwardly thereof for protecting said sidewall means from abrasive wear during operation, said wear plate means also being connected to said vertically positioned corner member means, the combined thickness of said sidewall means being substantially equal to that of said corner member means at their point of connection therewith.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said flat cutting edge means is welded to said corner member means along two opposite edge portions of said corner member means.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said corner member means comprises a forged member having a flared cross-sectional area which gradually increases in width from its point of connection with said side wall means to its point of connection with said flat cutting edge means.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said wear plate means and said side wall means are chamfered at the locations of connection to said corner member means and said corner member means is chamfered at its locations of connection to said flat cutting edge means to facilitate welding at these connection locations.
 5. The invention of claim 1 wherein said corner member means comprises a cast member having a flared cross-sectional area which gradually increases in width from its point of connection with said side wall means to its point of connection with said flat cutting edge means. 